Did you know that up until 2010 cruise ships weren't actually required to report any crimes that took place at sea?

The industry seemed to love these laws because hey, why report a federal crime if it's going to make them look bad?

Even now, laws over a century old protect them from needing to pay out those who've been hurt.

And the cruise ship industry has lobbied against anyone that attempts to change this.

If you thought the way the industry handled the pandemic was bad,

just wait until you hear how they've consistently handled their passenger safety throughout the years.

Hello everyone and welcome to the corporate casket. I'm the

aluminati and today we're going to be talking about the cruising industry as a

whole. We'll start with a brief background of how the cruising industry came to be

before we talk about how they've evolved into a floating

Petri dish during the pandemic and were not really required to take virtually any shred of responsibility

for it. So let's get started. Many old cruise lines started off as shipping companies. They had the massive boats, so you know, why not make money out of it?

Though these ships have carried immigrants since the 1800s,

actual pleasure cruises didn't begin

until about the turn of the century in 1899.

The Orient Steam Navigation Company

entered the business before anyone else seemingly out of necessity.

You see, back in 1891, their position as a company was, quote, nothing short of disastrous.

Freight rates had declined, and so they needed to find a way to use their older vessels.

There were definitely some hiccups along the way though, or perhaps not hiccups but

massive roadblocks or ocean blocks, I think you get the idea.

The Great Depression saw passenger numbers decline and when the first ever commercial

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